CLEAN OCEAN SAILING

The historic sailing vessel, which was once used to catch fish, is now being used to net plastic waste.

The venture Clean Ocean Sailing is the brain child of Steve Green, who has owned The Annette for twelve years.

Steve out on the water in one of his Canadian canoes looking for plastic waste (Image: Clean Ocean Sailing)

Steve, from Gweek, said: “The kids think she is a pirate ship. She was built in Denmark 110 years ago and used to fish the North Sea and the Arctic.

“What better to do with an old fishing boat than to go fishing again, but instead of for fish, for plastic?”

As well as using the boat to access hidden coves that can only be reached by sea, Steve hopes to put a small recycling centre on the ship so the whole procedure from collecting rubbish to processing it can be completed on the boat itself.

Renovation works on the ship itself are still ongoing, but Steve hopes that it will be completed by the end of May.

ADELE MORGAN

Rather than hefting out a black bag of waste each week, Adele admits that she doesn’t even own a rubbish bin.

Holding up a small cliptop jar, the 23-year-old from Penryn said: “I don’t have a bin. I just have this jar which I use to store all my landfill waste for a month.”

Adele uses the jar pictured to hold her monthly waste that can not be recycled (Image: Sally Adams)

She said it was not just about recycling more, but cutting down on waste in the first place – and, most importantly of all, cutting out entirely single-use thrown-away plastic.

And while a totally zero-waste modern lifestyle is impossible, Adele seems to be living as closely to that goal as she can. She has been documenting her experiences on a blog called Minimal Impact Kernow and shared some of her tips for people to cut down on their waste.

FINAL STRAW CORNWALL

A plastic straw amnesty is being rolled out to help Cornwall achieve plastic-free status.

The Final Straw Cornwall, which was set up to encourage businesses and individuals to ditch plastic straws that end up in the environment and replace them with sustainable alternatives, is now planning on sucking up the rest of Cornwall’s single-use plastic straws and turn them into art.

(Image: Pixabay)

Every plastic straw used by exhibitors at the food and drink exhibition Expowest Cornwall, will be collected by the campaign group.

One of the campaign’s organisers James Neale said all businesses attending the three-day event will also be encouraged to bring any surplus plastic straws to their stand so they can be collected and upcycled.

PORTHLEVEN REFRESH

The village of Porthleven is pushing for visitors and locals to ditch single-use plastic bags, bottles and cups to prevent pollution of the sea.

Surfer Dai Lawton, a spokesman for the group, said he is alarmed at the amount of plastic collected locally from the sea, most of it bags, water bottles and coffee cups.

“This is something we can all do something about,” he said. “It’s our rubbish and we’re responsible for it. The sea is a constant reminder of how much plastic is used just once and thrown away.”

PLASTIC FREE TRURO

Niomi Srivastava set up the Plastic Free Truro group in November to drum up grassroot support by not shaming people and their way of life or bashing plastic altogether but encouraging them to 'see the plastic' and realise it is an issue we are all responsible for and can all do something about.

"It's about getting people and businesses to see the plastic," Mrs Srivastava said. "We're used to other people pick up litter. It's a punishment we hand out as community service. Picking up litter is not in our nature. We want it to be in our nature.

(Image: Olivier Vergnault)

"We want it to become a normal thing where people don't feel embarrassed for picking up litter in the street and putting it in the bin. It's about seeing the plastic in the first place and taking responsibility for it."